melodiesoflife | Tazendra's True Calling: Distraction!

Tazendra's True Calling: Distraction!

Who: Tazendra, people not dealing with possessed heroes elsewhere.
Where: 11th District
When: October 31st night
Summary: Because why not have more chaos?
Warnings: Violence, including towards civilians.

In some respects, Tazendra looked normal. It wasn't like wearing black and being obviously armed was a new look for her. On the other hand, her face looked ashen, like the blood was drained from it, and her black clothing was veering more goth club than her normal 'RenFaire' look. (it was a fine sartorial line, but Tazendra had crossed it boldly and set up camp on the other side.)

And there was the group of zombies and Rift monsters invading the 11th district at her direction.

"Bah. Leading an army is dull. I wonder how others manage it. Ah, yes, what shall I do now?" She'd been hoping that there would be someone to fight, rather than a group of panicked citizens boarding up their doors or fleeing from zombies whose only orders were to stay close to Tazendra.

"Well, there is always a march towards the center of the city. That would naturally follow." Sure, her orders had been to draw attention away from certain other events happening tonight, but someone would notice her before she had overrun the whole town. Maybe she should find a Moogle to send a message, if Mognet was open.

{OOC: Let's keep the fight to one thread.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Duster had been on patrol the entire day. Some Heroes were scoping the areas they felt were in danger: the WEAPON storage facility, the airship docks, some of the scientists remaining in the labs. Duster took advantage of the Dragoon's athletic ability to investigate the zombie sightings in the residential district.

He found it strange that they weren't doing anything in particular. Terrifying the resident out of their minds was a given, but they weren't attacking people on the streets. Was it because they only targeted Heroes? Were they looking for something?

"Tazendra?!" Duster landed on the roof above her. "Are you with them, too?"

"With them? Why I am commanding them!" Tazendra said, as if marching a zombie horde on the city she lived in was a thing she did every week.

"But...why?" None of this made sense. Tazendra commanding the things that were terrorizing the city? Tazendra's sudden change in wardrobe?

Tazendra wasn't known for being introspective, and being possessed and under orders made things more confusing. "I am under orders. For the good of the Empire." Was that right. "Or something of that sort. None the less, it has become a matter of honor."

"What Empire? The Heran Empire? They're struggling to survive!" Duster punctuated his final word with a swipe of the arm.

"Ah, well," and here Tazendra had to admit that she had somehow conflated her own home Empire with whatever Kingdom the dead Moogles were from...

... well, until Duster swung at her. That got her attention at least. "Then you intend to fight? I had hoped... bah, it is no matter."

She'd hoped to fight someone, but she liked Duster.

"Of course I do! If it helps change your mind, I'll fight for it!" He stepped off the rooftop and dropped onto a lone barrel.

"...One-on-one, please." He always had difficulty dealing with hordes of zombies on his own, now that he realized that Tazendra had a tactical advantage.

"I would not have it any other way," Tazendra replied. Yes, it was probably smarter to use the shock troops she has, but it was far less fun. And people would no doubt see her as weak for it. She clapped her hands, and the zombies formed up in ranks, a very motley army, waiting on further orders.

"Are you ready?"

What obedient zombies, Duster thought as he stepped off the barrel. He had never fought against Tazendra before, but she was not to be underestimated. He pried open the top of the barrel with one hand and peeked him, hoping to find something that will help in battle.

Fish.

Things could be worse.

Without answering, he reached in, picked one up, and threw it at Tazendra. Once distracted, he leaped up for a Jump attack.

[OOC: Sorry for the delay]

The distraction worked, as Tazendra almost reflexively batted the fish away with her sword. Duster's jump attack caused her retreat a few steps, enough to make it a glancing blow. She attempted to bring her sword down on him before he leapt away.

He hadn't been able to get in a hit, but with Tazendra caught off-guard, he prevented a devastating blow to himself. As he leaped away, he summoned two clones with Mirage Dive and directed them to strike her from different points.

Tazendra managed to dodge one clone, but the other hit, knocking her back. She attempted to pivot, striking back with her sword, still not to the point where she's breaking out any of her special abilities. She shouldn't need them for one opponent, after all.

As one clone struck her, Duster ran to her blind spot and thrust his spear in a basic form. It was a slower attack, but one he could afford if he successfully pierced her armor.

Another hit. Not particularly serious, but Tazendra knew Duster could wear her down like this if she refused to use the powers granted to her by the possession. Instead of countering with her sword, she drew on her necromantic powers, casting the magical version of a Particle Thrower, a beam of energy to catch Duster off-guard.

With little distance between them, Duster could not dodge the attack, and the beam of energy struck him. His arms swung away from his body from the shock as the force pushed him farther away. He stumbled out of the path of the attack and gripped his spear once more.

"Why are you doing this?"

"At the moment? It has been too long since I've fought someone interesting," Tazendra said, stepping forward to try to stab Duster.

Duster leaped into the air, not so high that he could come down for a powerful attack, but enough to avoid her attack. The spear aimed at her head, he gave her another slash as he stepped back.

"Fight the zombies, they're the ones behind this!"

Tazendra managed to dodge the point, but the shaft did knock her off balance. "They are far less interesting," she replied simply, trying to counter his jumps with the fact her reach was longer than his.

"And... there is a reason, an important one."

It was difficult to fight someone with such power and reach - Duster could best defend himself with the relative agility of his build, but he attacks had to be quick and precise.

"Yeah? What is it?" His tone was deadpan. He had been spending too much time around Sparks Nevada.

"I..." Tazendra hesitated. The voice in her head seemed so reasonable, but Duster was also reasonable. "Bah, you are merely trying to confuse me!" she shouted, and fired off another Particle Thrower

Duster leaped out of the way once more, growing even more tired by the second. It was dumb luck that two fighters that considered themselves the least clever of their comrades were faced with one another. But Duster was trying is best, even if his best meant merely changing the tone of his words.

"Everyone has to fight for a reason!" He ended with sentence with a direct spear jab.

"Sometimes the battle is the reason," Tazendra said. But Duster's spear hit had struck home in Tazendra's side. If Tazendra was not using the Necromancer job and, thus, a Vampire, she would be bleeding a great deal. Instead, she is now trying to work herself free, clearly finding this painful.

It was painful to see a friend struggle against the spear, but Tazendra wasn't herself. As much as he didn't want to hurt her, she had to be stopped. At the very least, he had something to do while the other Heroes were running off to check on the WEAPONs and lab.

He slid the spear out a few inches, only to strike into the same wound deeper. He glared at Tazendra, daring her to make her next move.

Tazendra was very clearly weakening, but she managed to cast another Particle Thrower. Whether it was her last stand remained to be seen.

It was enough for Duster to end the fight. He lost his grip on the spear while his body was thrown back. If he was going to fall, it was while protecting his friends, the real heroes.

Of course, Tazendra now had to remove the spear. Even as an undead, she was still pretty heavily damaged, and lacked the leverage. "Bah, what a foolish way to die," she said quietly.

Edited 2017-02-26 02:01 (UTC)

His legs crumbled beneath him, and Duster fell onto the cobble street. Without the myopia caused by the rush of the fight, the zombie army returned to view. He'll have to deal with them even if Tazendra fell. What then?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Tazendra's True Calling: Distraction!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject